Late last June, 58-year-old veteran Steve Ballard was shot and killed outside his brother’s Waterford Township home after he fired a shotgun at police, who returned fire. Ballard had allegedly threatened family members .

Last April, Robert George Issa, 23, was hit by an electronic stun gun and shot by Troy police after he charged a marked police car armed with a knife. He was shocked by the device but the news account at the time said the Taser was ineffective. Issa was shot after he continued to move forward and refused to comply with police commands. He was taken to a local hospital where he died. At the time, police said he had mental health issues.

Those are two of the eight fatal shootings by police in Oakland County since 2015 documented by The Washington Post in an ambitious effort to build a database that looks at fatal police shootings nationally from 2015 through 2018.

A work in progress, the Washington Post effort looks at whether the people killed were fleeing or not, armed or not, attacking or not, and showed signs of mental illness or not. And, it looks at whether body camera footage was available.

Sometimes, people weren’t armed or fleeing or showing signs of mental illness. Sometimes they were.

One thing is clear: Physical threats to police officers mean they can – and do – respond with deadly force, usually a firearm, depending on how the threat is perceived.

But deadly force is the last resort, said Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard, who runs the county’s largest police agency.

“We have clear standards,” Bouchard said. “If you take it out or discharge at the wrong time, you’re accountable. The last resort is to use force against anyone. The last, last resort is to use lethal force. We want to talk them down and out.”

The Washington Post launched its effort to document police shootings nationwide after finding there is no requirement for local departments to report fatal shootings to the FBI database.

The FBI has since taken steps to improve its own data collection. It launched the National Use-of-Force Data Collection Jan. 1 and encourages local police departments to participate by applying for a Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal account.

Standards

The standards for use of deadly force by police come from U.S. Supreme Court decisions: Tennessee vs Garner in 1985, and Graham vs Connor in 1989.

The court struck down a Tennessee law in 1985 that allowed police to use all necessary means to effect an arrest when a suspect was fleeing or resisting, but didn’t pose a danger.

In the 1989 case about whether police used excessive force, the court ruled that whether the suspect posed an immediate threat to the officer or others should be considered, and from the perspective a “reasonable” officer on the scene in that police often have to make split-second decisions.

Generally, today, the court decisions mean police can use deadly force if they believe its reasonable to protect themselves or others from harm by an armed assailant, and against a fleeing unarmed suspect if there’s reason to believe a suspect may harm others.

It’s a decision police in the field often have to make in a split second.

What has evolved from the court cases are “use of force continuums” at police departments to guide police on the job on the various uses of force, for example:

Officer Presence — No force is used. The mere presence of a police officer works to deter crime or diffuse a situation.

Empty-Hand Control — Officers use bodily force to gain control of a situation, such as grabbing an individual or using punches and kicks to restrain them.

Less-Lethal Methods — Officers use less-lethal technologies to gain control of a situation, such as a baton to immobilize someone who is combative.

Chemical – Officers may use chemical sprays or projectiles embedded with chemicals to restrain an individual, like pepper spray or Tasers.

Lethal Force — Officers use lethal weapons, like firearms, to gain control of a situation, only if a person poses a threat to the officer or other people.

“If you’ve got someone running away that’s not a threat to anyone and you shoot them in the back, that’s a failure of policy,” Bouchard said. “We would never tell them to shoot to kill. We tell them to use force until the behavior that is a threat is no longer a threat.”

In Oakland County

The eight fatalities catalogued by the Washington Post database show a variety of situations and circumstances.

Deviere Ransom, 24, from Detroit, was shot Aug. 19, 2015 in Bloomfield Township, after a chase that began in Warren, and when he pointed a gun at police.

Rakeem Bentley, 24, a fugitive from Kentucky, was shot Jan. 15, 2016 during an exchange of gunfire during a prostitution sting in Southfield.

Colton Puckett, 28, a Marine veteran suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder was shot Aug. 24, 2017 after charging at SWAT team officers who responded to a 911 call in Waterford Township, armed with a shotgun.

Todd A. Stone, 48, was shot Dec. 18, 2018 by police in Oak Park after threatening them with a hatchet. There was no sign of mental illness.

Robert George Issa, 23, was shot April 9, 2018 by police in Troy. Issa, who had a mental illness, was armed with two knives and was Tasered first. He was shot when he charged police.

Antonio Thomas Gordon, 28, was shot April 10, 2018 by police in Royal Oak after fleeing from a traffic stop and later driving at a police officer’s car, according to police. His family has sued the Royal Oak Police Department.

Cody Reynolds, 20, was shot May 14, 2018 by police in Royal Oak when he allegedly lunged at an officer responding to a report that Reynolds had stabbed his mother and hit his father in the head with a guitar. A $10 million lawsuit was filed against the police. A dash cam video shows police confronting Reynolds in the street. Suddenly, Reynolds sprints out of camera range and shots are heard.

Steve Ballard, 56, was shot June 29, 2018 by Waterford police outside his brother’s home after threatening family members and firing a shotgun at police.

After A Shooting

In the majority of shootings, police use of deadly force is reviewed and found to be justified if they follow procedures for use of force.

However, that doesn’t prevent families of the people who were shot from seeking civil damages for excessive use of force, as in the case of Reynolds’ family against Royal Oak police.

“Even when the determination is 100 percent that you defended yourself, you expect to be sued anyway,” said Bouchard, the Oakland County sheriff.

There’s also the trauma for police officers.

“It’s one of the most stressful moments for a law enforcement officer, to take a life,” Bouchard said. “There’s mental stress and personal fallout, even when they’re justified.”